USS Abraham Lincoln Finally Heads Home
Was it a long enough deployment? Donald Trump certainly thinks not.
By: Austin Abbring
August 21, 2026
The USS Abraham Lincoln has finally departed for home after a nearly 9-month deployment and engagement with Iran. This marks the longest consecutive tenure at sea in the modern era without a single port call. The mental health and morale of the ship have been steadily degrading for weeks in conjunction with the cramped quarters, extensive plumbing and sanitation concerns, and food shortages over its roughly 270 days on open waters. The treatment of the men and women serving on this ship by the “leadership” in this administration has been deplorable and downright unacceptable.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been on the defensive by doing what he does best - deflect blame and attack the media to downplay the severity of the conditions of the sailors. In other words, just outright lie to the American public. Donald Trump, the famous multi-time draft dodger, recently suggested that this deployment was “not nearly long enough”. The lack of leadership was one of the most frequently cited contributing factors to the mental health and morale degradation aboard the ship. This is what happens when you have a Fox News weekend host put in charge of the largest military on the planet. A man who believes America is and should be fighting a crusade against Muslim people. Reports now say that Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon failed to disclose one of the main reasons the aircraft carrier spent so much time at sea. Iranian forces were able to destroy U.S. bases in Oman and in other regions of the Middle East in recent months. You know, that same Iranian military and missile system that we completely demolished, destroyed, obliterated, or whatever other adjective Trump and Hegseth select on any given day to provide cover for their failed war of choice.
Yes, our Navy has had longer deployments in the past. The difference in those engagements is the key here. For instance, during WWII, the USS Hornet was at sea for nearly 500 consecutive days. Our Marines and Navy in the Pacific theatre regularly had extensive deployments in continuous combat zones as we island-hopped. However, through it all, there was a clear cause and nationalistic pride to fight for. We were fighting Fascism in Europe and Imperial Japan. Today, what are our Navy and other branches of the U.S. military fighting for in this illegal and unjustifiable war in Iran? Is it to protect the Epstein pedophile billionaire class? Is it the weapons manufacturers and oil and gas executives who are making an absolute killing? Is it to protect the interests of Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel? Or is it to seek and destroy a nuclear weapons program that did not exist, which we also somehow managed to entirely eliminate last summer, but need to eliminate again? At least the troops get to come home to a VA that has been upended by the Trump regime, with a cut of nearly 30,000 jobs.
I am not one to further advance our military-industrial complex or one to justify our defense spending by any means; however, our military personnel deserve better. They, at the very least, deserve qualified leadership. They do not have that right now. The individuals who volunteered to serve our country, for better or for worse, are scapegoats for Donald Trump, his crooked cabinet, and his billionaire friends. He does not care in the slightest about any of them. If he did, he would not have a history of skipping dignified transfers to go golfing at his luxury golf courses.
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